PREFACE T
ravel to the heart of Salt Lake City and you will see the State Capitol dominating the hills to the north. East of the capitol and climbing farther up the slopes of the Wasatch Range is an area known to Salt Lakers as the Avenues, one of the city's older and most important residential areas. Besides boasting some of Utah's best examples of residential architectural styles, the Avenues include several significant public and commercial buildings. Turreted, ornamented, or plain, the houses stand as a reminder of a truly unique neighborhood. Some are statuesque — tall and well proportioned — portraying poise and dignity. Others, through the use of natural materials, reflect the graceful simplicity of the pioneer era. Most are single-family or two-family structures, though 3- and 4story dwellings, built at the turn of the century, dot the area's southwest corner. The Avenues district lacks the broad, spacious look of other parts of the city. The pioneers who built their homes on the Avenues were mostly businessmen, not farmers. They had no need for farm land about their homes. Instead of following the city's traditional system of 10-acre blocks with 132-foot wide streets, they employed a system of 21/2-acre blocks with streets 82Vi feet wide. Their gridiron plan platted on rather steep slopes further accentuates the special visual elements of the Avenues. The heights, setbacks, styles, spacing, and design of the buildings produce a sense of continuity along many Avenues and streets. Small side yards and the dense pattern of structures create an almost rowhouse-like feeling — a feeling reinforced by the repetition of narrow house ends facing the street. Other visual features, such as front porches, retaining walls, fences, and landscaping, complete the sense of place that makes the Avenues Historic District such a remarkable facet of Salt Lake City's past and present. This book, divided into three sections, deals with both the history and the architecture of the Avenues. Over one hundred and forty significant structures are presented in detail to allow the reader to understand this district's special sense of place. The area outlined in the book contains some of the most remarkable early architecture to be
